Mark Zuckerberg Has a Facebook Stalker

The man who taught us all to Facebook stalk has his own, real life Facebook stalker. The 31-year-old man, Pradeep Manukonda, has been harassing Mark Zuckerberg via the social network since January and has attempted to meet the Facebook CEO several times, both at his offices and at his home. Manukonda reportedly sent Zuckerberg and his sister, Randi, multiple desperate messages threatening that "time is really running out" and asking for help, promising, "then I am ready to die for you."

Manukonda ignored a verbal warning from police, sending a hand written note and flowers to Zuckerberg's home. Clear that Manukonda wasn't planning on leaving him alone any time soon, Zuckerberg obtained a restraining order, requiring Manacona to remain 300 yards away from Mark and Randi, as well as Mark's girlfriend Priscilla Chan, at all times.

TMZ reports today that the alleged stalker would like to apologize to Zuckerberg, claiming "he never meant to scare the Facebook CEO...and feels so bad about the whole situation, that he promises to never bother Mark again."

"Someone else would make a snarky remark about Facebook and privacy," Silicon Alley Insider's Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry points out. "But this is just terrible and scary and we wish Zuckerberg and his family the best and hope they stay safe." Feel free to share your own snarky remark here if you just can't resist.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.